Dear Elaine,
Thanks for the information. I see you will be
coming to Perth in the future I will be looking forward to this and will be
advising people I know over here to try and get to the seminar.
The opening size on the fogger is 6mm. The fogger
works on a venturi principle a fan is used to push air through a drum at 74
miles per hour this sucks out the liquid through the 6mm pipe. The droplet
size created is 8.5 micron to 30 microns. This air and droplet mix is
forced into the greenhouse and fills the house with a fog. The droplets do not
collide with anything but float onto the leaves of the cucumbers. Would the
effect of being hit by the air at 74 miles per hour kill the
fungi??
I am located in Western Australia, if there
are particular inoculums of fungi available for control of Powdery the
information would be greatly appreciated, we are always looking to improve
things. We are using CT to control Powdery on vines, so far so good (3
months) and Strawberries (4 months).
Regards Mike Harvey.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 2:41
PM
Subject: Re: [compost_tea]
Cucumbers
Hi Mike -
sorry to be so long in answering you.
Have you tested your compost? Cucumbers like fairly bacterial
soil, but still need some fungi for disease suppression.
If your
compost lacks fungi, then get some of the Alaska Humus to add to it, but put
the compost in a plastic tub first, bring up to moisture (50%, it just barely
drips a drop when you squeeze hard), cover and keep warm. Not hot, just
room temp.
Should grow great fungi (thick white strands IN THE
COMPOST).
Reading further, I see your tea looks very good
already.
What is the opening size for the nozzle on your
fogger? That's the thing you really have to pay attention to, pressure
isn't usually the problem. The organisms are able to take alot of
pressure, but can't take being splatted against foliage well at all. So,
can the critters get through the nozzle? Keep pressure low relative to
distance of the spray nozzle to the leaf surface. If the foliage is 1 to
2 feet away, no more than 20 to 40 psi. If 6 feet away, 100 psi seems
ok. 100 feet away, 600 psi is ok. At least on the testing we have
done, pressure isn't what kills them, it's the impact pressure on hitting the
leaf surface......
I'm waiting for the engineers to get the first version of the
testing kit microscope to me. I must be patient..... I must be
patient. I am so well known for patience - NOT.
OK,
powdery mildew is the main problem? You are located
where? Sorry, can't keep everyone straight. There may be
some particular fungal and bacterial species you should locate to help the tea
out in making certain of success with PM. So, let me know where you
are, and I'll get back to you.
Elaine Ingham President, Soil
Foodweb Inc. www.soilfoodweb.com
I am inquiring re a trial of CT and Compost we are planning to
do.The trial is with Cucumbers in a green house. The cucumbers are usually
grown with conventional hydroponics. The trial will involve using CT to
control Powdery Mildew as well as a soil drench. Some of the cucumbers
will be started in 100% compost in jiffy pots (tiny starter pots) others
will be in conventional potting mix, and then placed on the main growing
media to grow out. The media being used is pine sawdust and chips (pinus
radiata). We plan to use CT as a drench on the growing bags and also
place a small amount of compost on top of the growing bags before placing
the seedling plant on top of the growing bag. The CT will be fungal
dominated but with some bacterial component. Typical range as
follows. Total fungal biomass 38 ( micro g per ml)
Active fungal biomass 14 ( micro g per ml) Total bacterial biomass 230 (
micro g per ml) Active bacterial biomass 40 ( micro g per
ml) CT will be used weekly as folia to control PM and other leaf
diseases. No sticker spreader is to be used. We are unsure as yet how
the CT will be applied, a fogger is one way the grower usually applies
fungicides. Anyone have experience with these machines? I do not have the
specifications but suspect that the pressures will be too high. The water
for the hydroponics is not recycled, used once and then used on other
things, the growing bags (full of pine) are recycled if possible i.e. after
the crop is finished a new one is planted on top of the media in the bag.
We hope to take brix readings and will be able to compare with other
houses on the property. We expect to be able control PM and show
improved quality. Hopefully it will not be too long till the leaf testing
kit will be available, this would be a great opportunity to use it as we are
too far from a lab to send leaf samples.
Any suggestions re improvements we could make to this
trial?? Regards Mike
Harvey.
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